Top 10 Healthy Midnight Snacks

Either your favourite Hollywood flick is being aired on HBO, or you're all red cheering for the red devils of Manchester United or you are just about to finish the last battle of favourite war game or it can be the office work which is making you a nocturnal creature. This is one time when most people feel a craving for good and healthy snacks. Even if you've had dinner at 10, you'll again start feeling hungry. But most of the time we end up eating junk.

1. Fruits. The best snack for any occasion. They are easy to eat and provide nutrients to keep you going. Forget fat when you're gorging on them. To add some spice, sprinkle chat masala on fruits and then enjoy them. You can prepare a fruit platter in advance if you plan to stay awake late in the night.

2. Veggies. You may frown that we are recommending this to you, but veggies make for a great late-night noshing for many diet-friendly reasons. They are a storehouse of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that can be used by your body for overnight healing and nourishment. You can prepare a vegetable platter in advance if you plan to stay awake late in the night.

3. Popcorn. If your midnight cravings demand something salty, then popcorn would be the ideal snack. Not only it is a good source of complex carbs, it also contains less calories. (of course, you have to refrain from dousing the kernels in butter). It takes just a few minutes to prepare them. What's more, you can easily eat them with one hand if you're gaming.

4. Nuts. Rich in antioxidants, nuts are great night time snacks. You need protein to stay awake anyway, which nuts have in droves. While gaming, they can be easily tossed into the mount. Most are not so greasy that your equipment will suffer, and nuts are healthy, unless you eat an entire can. Since nuts contain a lot of fibers, you will feel quite fuller when you get up in the morning. Nuts also help in regulating blood sugar.

5. Salsa. Salsa is easy to make fresh - or buy - and offers tasty nutrition with the right ingredients. Be adventurous; try some that combine sweet fruits and hot chilies. Salsa contains no fat. But if you decide to have it with chips, then we can't really help. If you enjoy it with nachos, make sure you do not eat too many of them.

6. Milk. Low in calories and fat (not talking about the full-cream milk, of course), milk contains tryptophan, an amino acid which is capable of lulling you into a deep sleep. Actually, tryptophan helps produce serotonin which helps us feel sleepy. Along with this, you get calcium and vitamin D as bonuses.

7. Whole Grains. Like milk, foods loaded with carbs boost the levels of tryptophan in the body. Grains like oat, barley and millet are the best choices. Studies suggest that consumption of whole grains reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes.

8. Water. Please don't hate us for this but yes, water can serve as a healthy midnight snack. What you think of as a pang of hunger is often thirst. So before you devour savouries and treats to kill your “false hunger”, try hydrating yourself with water. You can flavour it with lime juice if you want.

9. Juices. If you want to save yourself the trouble of cutting fruits then go for juices. 100% fruit juice is a nutrient-dense beverage that has almost all the benefits one can get from consuming whole fruits. Don't consume juices in excess as many of them contain good quantities of fructose sugar which is not good for your health.

10. Cottage Cheese. Learn to relish raw cottage as much as you relish Shahi Paneer. A half cup of 2% cottage cheese contains 16 gm of proteins but has only 102 calories and two gm of fat. This is in stark contrast with other types of cheese which can be oozing with fat. You can either mix it with fruits or just enjoy it after sprinkling some chat masala on it.